Shadows of the Digital World
by Alexis Theory
Summary: The digital world is in chaos as the four sovereigns are being threatened by a corrupted Cherubimon. While the two other celestial digimon work to get a group of digidestined together, a surprise element comes into play.


_Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Digimon portrayed in this fan-fic, nor any of the other concepts from the TV show. I just own Alexis's character and the plot line idea._

Alexis sat on the hilltop, looking out over the digital world. From her vantage point, she could see for miles around. The quiet fields below her were misleading in appearance. Too far out in that direction and you were sure to run into one of Lord Cherubimon's evil minions.

A rush of wings made Alexis turn her head. Angemon had just landed behind her. The angel digimon walked up behind her. "Beautiful, isn't it."

Alexis nodded, "If only we weren't at war. I'd go out to that field and play in it every day."

Angemon smiled down at the young girl, envying her innocence. No wonder Lord Seraphimon wanted to keep the truth from her. "I think I would enjoy that, too. However, at the rate things are going now, you will be permanently grounded before the war is over."

Alexis fell over. Springing back up, she said, "Don't tell me they've realized I'm gone already!"

"Why else would I be here?" Angemon said, laughing. "Lady Ophanimon sent me out straight away."

Alexis gave a small sigh. "Alright, I'm coming. Can you give me a lift? I wore myself out getting out here without being noticed."

Angemon nodded. He put an arm around the girl's waist and took off. The two sped off towards the castle in the distance.

Angemon and Alexis landed in the courtyard. Digimon were bustling around them busily. Imperialdramon was sitting there in the middle of the courtyard. Alexis hurried over, "Imperialdramon, what's going on? Why is everyone so excited?"

The dragon digimon turned to look at the girl. He smiled. The two were good friends, and often talked. "Haven't you heard? The new digi-destined have arrived. They're in the audience chamber right now, learning about their mission."

Alexis needed no further prompting. She sped off, despite Angemon's attempts to slow her down, and headed straight for her room.

Angemon shook his head. "Imperialdramon, you really shouldn't encourage her. Alexis gets into enough trouble already, without you telling her about the digi-destined."

Imperialdramon sighed, "She would have found out anyway. That girl could hide from you in a well lit, empty room, and it would still take you five hours to find her."

Alexis crawled through the air vents, looking for the markers she had scratched into the walls telling her where she was. Climbing through the ventilation system was becoming a daily thing for her, whether she did it to sneak out, or to listen in on someone's conversation. This time, she was attempting the latter.

She arrived at a dead end; the grate that blocked her way overlooked the audience chamber. Below stood five kids, who were listening to Lord Seraphimon speak. Lady Ophanimon sat on her chair, watching the looks on the digi-destineds' faces. Alexis settled down to listen.

"…so you see, we need you to help us return Lord Cherubimon to his true form, or else we shall have to bring in a replacement for him in order to maintain the balance."

"How are we supposed to fight a giant evil monster?"

"We shall supply you each with digimon and crests. You already have your digivices, which are your primary means of helping your digimon to digivolve…"

Alexis yawned. Most of this garbage she had heard before. But then…

"Sir, why don't you just use the replacement you mentioned before? Surely with three Angels again, you could overthrow this Lord Cherubimon and restore peace."

There was a pause. Lord Seraphimon seemed to have no reply to this. Then, Lady Ophanimon spoke. "Alexis, get out of the ventilation system, please."

Alexis jumped at the sound of her name. Tumbling forward, she fell out of the grate and onto the floor. "Ow…" she said, rubbing her head. Lord Seraphimon gave her a sharp glare. Alexis gave a hesitant laugh, "I'll, err, show myself out."

Alexis made a break for the door. Lord Seraphimon sighed and turned back to the digi-destined. "Sorry about that. Alexis is very defiant."

"It's not her fault. She wouldn't be that way if you didn't put so many rules before her." Lady Ophanimon countered.

"Anyway," Lord Seraphimon said, his tone indicating that he wanted to change the subject. "The only person currently who would be able to take Lord Cherubimon's place is Alexis. And as you can see, she doesn't exactly have the temperament to take on this kind of a role."

"Alexis is no longer fully human like you are," Lady Ophanimon clarified. "She was once as human as you are, and a digi-destined as well. But she was in an accident. Her body remains in the human world, trapped in a coma. Her mind was brought here by a power surge, the same surge that appeared when Lord Cherubimon was turned into a virus. All his vaccine power was transferred into that girl, making her half digimon. We've kept her here in order to protect her. If Lord Cherubimon was to get a hold of her, then he would surely destroy the remainder of his true form that resides within her."

There was silence throughout the room as the digi-destined kids tried to wrap their brains around the magnitude of the problem. After a moment or two, Lord Seraphimon announced, "Come! Let us distribute the crests." The five kids and Lady Ophanimon followed him into a side room.

Alexis sat in her room. They never let her do anything. A knock came from outside her room. "Come in!" she called out.

The door opened, and in walked Angewomon. "Angemon told me you were up here sulking."

Alexis huffed. "Got caught again. I was trying to get a good look at the digi-destined."

Angewomon gave her a reproving look and sat down next to her on the bed. "You were crawling around in those dusty vents again? Yeesh, you're going to get stuck one of these days, and we'll have to go in after you."

Alexis laughed, "I wouldn't get stuck! I'd just digivolve into something smaller and crawl out."

"Oh, that reminds me," Angewomon said, standing back up. "I brought you dinner!" The angel digimon walked out the door, picked up the waiting tray, and brought it in. "I thought you might want some food after all your mischief making."

Angewomon put the tray down on the bedside table. Alexis grabbed a piece of bread from it and started scarfing it down. Angewomon laughed, "I'll leave you to that, then. I'm going on guard duty soon. I'll tell you if I see anything interesting."

Alexis gave a small wave, her mouth too full to talk. Angewomon closed the door behind her and headed down to the front gate. Angemon met her there. "How's she doing?"

"Good, the poor thing. I hate keeping the secret from her, but I can't imagine telling her, either."

"I know what you mean. Ever since she came here, the girl has brought energy back to this place. Now that it has become a sanctuary for so many digimon, it seems we need her interrupting mischief even more."

The two flew up to the top of the wall and started patrolling together. As they passed the courtyard, Angewomon saw Imperialdramon had fallen asleep below. "Big dope, he's asleep already. Hey, Imperialdramon!"

Angemon put a hand on her shoulder. "Let him sleep. We're going to need all the energy we can get now that the digi-destined are here. Lord Cherubimon is bound to be more active than ever."

Darkness came as night swept over the digital world. Marc and his new digimon, Leormon, were sleeping in the room Ophanimon and Seraphimon had provided. Alexis, too, was sleeping off the day's events, oblivious to the impending doom. For, at that very moment, evil was sweeping across the plain she so loved to look at. Corrupted digimon, of all different strengths, types, and sizes, were charging forward towards the castle.

Angemon heard it first. "We've got company!" He called over to Angewomon, who was a few feet away. Angewomon looked across the horizon, catching glimpses of movement. A dark cloud seemed to follow the enemy. There was no doubt about it now. They were here.

Angewomon rushed towards the guardhouse, ringing the alarms when she got there. The shrill bells cut through the night, disrupting the dreams of all within earshot. Defenders leapt from their beds, ready to fight. Marc shook Leormon awake, and then hurried to get dressed. As he headed out the door, he immediately ran into Seraphimon. "Marc, thank goodness you are awake. I need you to find Alexis. She is bound to have transformed by now, so use your digivice to tell which digimon is her. Once you find her, the two of you are to get away by any means possible. Protect her, for she is our only hope if the castle's defenses fall. Go!"

Seraphimon gave Marc a push in the right direction. As he hurried off, Leormon following, Marc looked back. Seraphimon was already directing the awakening troops. With a twinge of regret, Marc hurried onward to find Alexis.

Alexis scurried out of bed and got dressed for battle. Strapping her D-Tector to her waist, she hurried out into the halls. Digimon were running everywhere. She made it to the stairwell and looked out a window. Already enemy attacks were hurtling towards the castle.

Running down the stairs, she ran into Ophanimon, who was heading in the opposite direction. "Alexis, I am so relieved you are awake. Here, take this." Ophanimon pushed a tag and crest into Alexis's hands.

Alexis stared down at the item. "B-but, you can't give me this. I'm not…"

"It's the Crest of Destiny, Alexis, and it's yours." Ophanimon closed Alexis's hands upon the object.

Alexis stood there a moment longer, dazed by the suddenness Ophanimon's gift. "I can't take this, Lady Ophanimon. It's…" Alexis looked up to see Ophanimon had left. Quickly, Alexis made up her mind and put on the tag, admiring the crest's symbol. Noises from outside shook Alexis back to the present. Hurrying outside, she hit a button on her D-Tector. "Digivolution Activate! D'Arkmon!"

Flying on towards the battle, Alexis kept a sharp eye out for her friends.

Marc felt like he was searching in vain. Leormon had turned into Leomon in order to protect his tamer, but the battle was getting worse. Marc finally got a blip on his Digivice. "Leomon, she's that way!"

The two headed out to where the battle was thickest. Marc spotted D'Arkmon fighting against an Endigomon. A quick sensor check and Marc was sure that was her. "It's D'Arkmon. She's Alexis! Leomon, we've got to help her out."

"I'm on it," The lion digimon said, charging forward. "Fist of the Beast King!" The attack hit Endigomon in the head, knocking the giant digimon back. D'Arkmon turned to spot Marc and Leomon. "Thanks for the help. Now get yourselves out of here before things get worse."

Marc shook his head. "Seraphimon told us to get you out of here. Now come on!"

D'Arkmon appeared to not pay any attention to the reply. She flew off towards where Angewomon and Angemon were struggling. Marc sighed, "We'd better follow her."

Alexis stood beside her friends, fighting as hard as she could. Angemon was badly injured, and Angewomon was doing her best to protect him and herself as well. Imperialdramon flew overhead, having transferred to fighter mode. Alexis smiled to know he too was still alive.

Angemon got hit by a stray blast. He immediately sunk to the ground. Alexis knelt beside him. "Angemon!"

The angel digimon smiled up at Alexis, "Stay safe, kid." With that, his data collapsed and was gone.

Alexis started crying, "Angemon!"

"Put the emotions on hold, Alexis. We can be sad later." Angewomon continued fighting, knowing what had happened without even looking. Despite her words, Angewomon found herself tearing up.

Alexis got up and started attacking wildly, enraged by the death of her friend. Soon, all the enemies in the area had been deleted. Angewomon sighed as she turned to watch as Alexis dedigivolved. The girl stood there, looking over the battlefield. "Is it over?"

Alexis heard a small grunt behind her. She turned to see one last enemy fall, having been struck by Angewomon's arrow. The digimon had tried to attack Alexis, but instead, the blow had hit Angewomon. Now, the angel digimon lay on the ground, injured like Angemon had been minutes before.

Alexis gave a cry of shock, hurrying forward to her friend. Angewomon wiped away a tear from Alexis's face. "Everyone has their time to go, Alexis. Nothing can stop that." Angewomon's data disappeared to join Angemon's.

Alexis stayed put. Marc hurried forward, having seen Angewomon's demise from a distance. He and Leomon had had their own fight, and the two were now dirty and battered. Marc stepped forward and put an arm around Alexis. "Come on. We need to go."

"No! I need to stay." Alexis bawled, not ready to let go of her friends that easily.

Imperialdramon landed behind them, returning to dragon mode. "Marc, Seraphimon and Ophanimon… they…"

Alexis turned, "We've lost, haven't we. We defeated them, but it was still a loss. Everything is ruined."

Imperialdramon hung his head. "Ophanimon and Seraphimon sent the other digi-destined home when the battle seemed lost. Marc, it's up to you whether you want to go home or not."

Marc looked at Alexis, then Leomon, then back at Imperialdramon. "I'm staying. I'll help fight Cherubimon until I can't fight more." Leomon nodded in agreement.

Alexis nodded, "I'll help you. Angemon and Angewomon will not have died in vain."

"Well, then. You three are going to need some form of travel, will you not? I shall accompany you on your journey." Imperialdramon smiled.

_And so it began. The smallest team of digi-destined ever was going after the biggest threat the digital world had seen in ages. _


End file.
